Yeah, the Rapids Ride... this "minigame" in Link's Awakening was really interesting when you played it for the first time, especially since it occupies an entire four by four area on Koholint Island. However, there isn't much to gain here except for two treasure chests and many flying Rupees. So, whenever I've replayed the GameBoy or GameBoy Color version, I usually only went through there to complete my map. Twice, actually, because you can't cover all the squares on your first try.
Now, with the remake there is some potential to improve things there. First of all, map completion probably doesn't work the same way and going through the area once should be enough for it. Secondly, there should be at least one of the new Pieces of Hearts there, so there is a bigger incentive to fully explore the area.
They've already changed the minigame somewhat, because now you can actually use the Hookshot to pull yourself to the trees. This didn't work in the original, because the Hookshot couldn't be used on the raft, because the game acted here like you're surrounded by walls. But the remake obviously handles this differently.
If you look closely on the above screenshot, you can also see how they've changed the course quite a bit. This is the entire area as seen in the DX version:
The above screenshot seems to be near the end of the course, but it looks quite different from the original, while otherwise this remake has been a very accurate translation so far, mostly on a tile-by-tile nature. So, there is definitely something going on here...
Maybe they can use the one island in the middle, which couldn't be accessed in the original, to put a Piece of Heart there. They could add an opening between the trees at the south end of the island for example.
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